1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a carrier for transporting animals and, more specifically, to an emergency hands-free transport system for moving animals away from a dangerous area.
2. Description of the Prior Art
American households contain millions of pets, the majority of which are cats and dogs. Throughout the course of a lifetime, most households encounter some type of emergency situation, such as a tornado, flood, hurricane, earthquake, act of war, etc. While removing children from such situations may be difficult, removing pets, armed with teeth and claws, can be extremely difficult.
Prior art pet carriers often include a handle which engages the carrier""s hand. Unfortunately, this prevents the hand from being used to carry children or other valuable items away from the dangerous situation. Having one hand occupied also limits the user""s ability to react to environmental conditions. Soft-bodied carrier bags, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,977,857, disclose the use of a wheeled base. However, in emergency situations which involve stair climbing or rough terrain, a wheel base system is often not feasible and adds additional weight to the entire system.
It is also known in the art to provide an animal carrier with shoulder straps to free a user""s hand when transporting an animal. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,277,148; 5,419,281 and 5,148,956 both disclose such carriers. However, drawbacks associated with such prior art devices include the difficulty involved in inserting an anxious animal into such a carrier and the potential exposure of an animal""s claws and teeth through the carrier. Furthermore, these prior art devices are designed for utilization in recreation or animal husbandry situations where the animal is calm and unlikely to attack. In a dangerous situation, animals are often agitated and time is of the essence. In such situations, inserting an animal into such prior art devices would be difficult, and would expose the user to the animal""s teeth and claws. Such devices have the additional drawback in an emergency situation of providing little protection from smoke, fire, flying debris, hail or other environmental and external attack. Many prior art devices also carry animals, especially cats, in an uncomfortable manner. Such carriers can be cruel and even dangerous if a cat were to become agitated or frightened.
Another drawback associated with such prior art devices is that such devices are designed to allow the animal wide view of the surroundings. In an emergency situation, where such surroundings could be dangerous and prone to agitate the animal, it would be desirable to provide an enclosure which restricted an animal""s view of its surroundings. Yet another drawback of the prior art devices is the potential harm that would be inflicted to an animal if a user attempted to put an animal into such a device in an agitated state. Although speed is of the essence in an emergency situation, safety of the animal, both during insertion and transport, are of critical concern.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an emergency animal transport system which allowed for the safe insertion and transport of an agitated animal, while freeing a user""s hands. The difficulties encountered in the prior art noted hereinabove are substantially eliminated by the present invention.
In an advantage provided by this invention, an emergency animal transport system is provided which provides for the safe transport of an animal from an emergency situation.
Advantageously, this invention provides a lightweight animal transport system which frees up a user""s hands during an emergency situation.
Advantageously, this invention provides an animal transport system which distributes an animal""s weight over a user for ease of transport.
Advantageously, this invention provides an animal transport system which shields a user from an animal""s claws and teeth during transport.
Advantageously, this invention provides an animal transport system which shields an animal from agitating external activity while the animal is transported from a dangerous situation.
Advantageously, this invention provides an animal transport system which protects an animal from smoke, fire, hail and other debris during transport away from a dangerous situation.
Advantageously, this invention provides an animal transport system comprising a wall, defining an interior space and a top opening. At least a portion of the wall is constructed so as to restrict the passage of claws therethrough. A protective cover is provided for releasable securement over the interior space. Means are provided for carrying the wall and for allowing the transfer of fluid into the interior space.
In the preferred embodiment, the wall and protective cover are constructed of semi-rigid material and the cover is constructed for releasable mating engagement over the top opening defined by the wall. The wall is constructed so as to bias an animal placed within the interior space away from a prone position.